Arltunga Historical Reserve

Arltunga Historical Reserve is a preserved gold-mining ghost town in the East MacDonnell Ranges, about 110 kilometres east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Established after gold was discovered in 1887, it became Central Australia's first European settlement. The reserve protects ruins of the Government Battery, police station, hotel and miners' huts, plus mine shafts and a cemetery, illustrating early mining life in an arid landscape on Eastern Arrernte Country.

Visitors can explore a remote desert ghost town with well-preserved and ruined stone buildings set among rugged ranges and dry creek beds. Expect self-guided walking trails linking the Government Battery and cyanide works, police station ruins, hotel ruins, miners' huts, mine shafts and cemetery, with interpretive signs and a visitor centre displaying mining machinery and historical information. The landscape is arid, rocky and sparsely vegetated, with unsealed roads and walking tracks.